Paulista clubs discuss Brazil’s MP banning online betting ads as R$ 1.14 bi in 2025 sponsorships faces cutoff

Eleven clubs from São Paulo met at the Federação Paulista de Futebol (FPF) to assess the fallout from the measure signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva that bans online betting operations and advertising in Brazil. For high-risk PSPs and sportsbook operators, the immediate issue is simple: the ad and sponsorship pipe that fed Brazilian football is being told to shut by 23:59 on Friday (5/10).

1. Representatives of 11 Paulista clubs gathered on Monday morning (28/9) at the FPF headquarters in west São Paulo to coordinate a collective response to the MP, rather than let each club improvise alone and weaken the negotiating position of the group.
2. The meeting included clubs from the Brazilian Série A and Série B, plus one club from the São Paulo Second Division. Present were Corinthians, Palmeiras, São Paulo, Santos, Mirassol and Red Bull Bragantino from Série A; Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto, Novorizontino, Ponte Preta and São Bernardo from Série B; and Juventus from the São Paulo Second Division. Legal and marketing staff attended, but no concrete action was decided.
3. The FPF said in a statement that “FPF e Clubes seguirão discutindo o tema e definiram que seguirão atuando sempre de forma coletiva, visando o melhor para o futebol.” In other words, the clubs are trying to keep this as a coordinated industry response, not a series of one-off fights with sponsors, regulators, and the government.
4. On Tuesday (29/9), representatives of clubs from the four divisions of Brazilian football and the Ministry of Sport are due to meet to discuss the MP’s impact and possible financial support for the clubs. The government chose the CBF as the intermediary in the process; according to the ministry’s letter to the confederation, the goal is to discuss the “fortalecimento dos clubes e do futebol brasileiro.” The CBF had not yet defined who would represent it at the meeting.
5. The timing matters because betting houses operating in Brazil have until 23:59 on Friday (5/10) to remove all advertising, including club sponsorships. The source says betting companies injected R$ 1.14 bi into football in 2025, so this is not a cosmetic brand change; it is a direct hit to a revenue stream that many clubs and their payment partners have already built into the model.

The CBF’s role as intermediary comes with its own political layer. Among its eight vice-presidents is Gustavo Dias Henrique, who handles the confederation’s political coordination and is the first substitute for Renan Calheiros (MDB) in the Senate race in Alagoas. Francisco Schertel Mendes, son of STF Justice Gilmar Mendes, also appears in the current management as vice-president of the FMF (Federação Mato-Grossense de Futebol) and a member of the CBF assembly.